Men are paying money to have sex with children.

It is happening across the country, in big cities and small towns. These young children are repeatedly sexually assaulted and this serial rape of children is happening all around us. It may be happening in your neighborhood and your city.

11 children go missing every hour. 3-4 month old babies are being kidnapped and trafficked, and raised by brothel owners so that they can be pushed into prostitution as soon as they get a bit older.

Girls as young as 10, are given hormone injections to look older for the “customers”. Girls and boys as young as 6-years-old are filmed performing sexual acts and those videos are then sold on the internet.

These customers are men from every walk of life and their “demand” for children in this business has been growing. This serial rape of children needs to stop! We need to address the source of this horror, which is the increasing demand for children!

Even though there are laws in the country to curb trafficking of children, hardly any attention is being paid to perpetrators who pay to sexually exploit children. Just arresting the brothel owners and traffickers would not solve the problem.

This is an organized crime, and unless strong measures are taken against the customers, this multi-billion dollar industry would continue to thrive in India.

I am a Rajya Sabha MP and a father of two. It horrifies me to hear stories of children being snatched away from their mothers and being sold into prostitution. But what makes me angry is that there are men in the country who go to brothels and seek sex with children.

I started this petition asking the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the WCD Minister to collectively implement an action plan to bring an end to this horrific crime.

As part of the action plan, the government must-

1. Ensure proactive policing- Appropriate and timely arrest and action against customers so that they are punished promptly, naming and shaming of customers which is an important step in deterring these men.

2. National Level intelligence sharing through a National Childgrid to synergize country’s databases for tracking of child sex offenders and their swift prosecution and conviction.

3. Exclusive courts under POCSO and children’s courts- Exclusive courts need to be established in every state. Wherever the demand is high, exclusive courts need to be set up, beginning with all metro cities.

If all of us come together, we can ensure that there is a fear instilled in the heart of men who rape children. The government agencies and ministries need to come together, adopt and enact this action plan.

This is a big fight. Join me in this fight to bring an end to this horrific crime and save lakhs of children across the country who are being sexually exploited, instead let's ensure a safe childhood for them. Please Sign my petition.